Essentials 1 Serious adverse events (SAEs), including cardiac arrest were previously common in hospitalized ward patients. 2 SAEs were often preceded by signs of physiological derangement for up to 24 hours prior to the event. 3 Rapid response systems (RRSs)…
Essentials 1 Overcrowding is the situation where emergency department (ED) function is impeded primarily by the excessive number of patients needing or receiving care. 2 Access block is excessive delay in accessing appropriate inpatient beds and, in Australasia, is defined…
Essentials 1 Emergency department short stay units play a key role in modern emergency departments. 2 Staffing is ideally by emergency department staff with defined admission criteria and a plan for disposition within 24 hours. 3 They offer time-limited intensive…
Essentials 1 The worldwide problem of refugees, internally displaced and stateless persons is significant and likely to increase. 2 Overall responsibility for internally displaced persons (IDPs) lies with the governments of the country in which they reside. The international community,…
Essentials 1 Triage is the ongoing process of sorting patients on the basis of the urgency of their need for medical care. 2 Urgency is distinct from both severity and complexity. 3 Triage categorization has been found to relate strongly…
Essentials 1 The incidence of globally reported disasters from natural and technological hazards increased exponentially from 1960 to 2000 and has fallen slightly in the period 2006 to 2015 after a peak in 2005. 2 Deaths due to natural hazards…
Essentials 1 Mature retrieval systems act as a single point of entry for the referrer, preferably providing services by initiation of a single call to a systemwide phone number. 2 Retrieved patients are often unstable, at the margin of physiological…
Essentials 1 Ambulance call taking and dispatch is increasingly becoming computerized, which allows for the medical determination of the most appropriate response speed and skill set as well as telephone instructions for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid. 2 Ambulance care…
Essentials 1 Ethics is about doing the right thing for the patient. 2 The morality of the doctor and the morality of the patient will influence decision making. 3 The two most common ethical dilemmas in emergency medicine concern treating…
Essentials 1 Privacy and confidentiality issues can be related to the physical environment in which care is given or to the personal health information involved in the patient’s care. 2 Breaching confidentiality of personal health information now breaks Australian and…